Newsroom

May 19, 2014

Report: HUD secretary to move to OMB

May 20, 2014 – The Obama administration is reportedly planning to move Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan to lead the White House Office of Management and Budget as it considers San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro as a replacement.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Donovan, who has been a key player in administration discussions on housing finance reform, has accepted the offer to move, and Castro is being vetted for the job. Castro is seen as a "rising star" among Democrats, and gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in 2012. He would have to be confirmed by the Senate in order to serve as secretary.

In April, Scott Moriarty, the head of mortgage lending at Affinity FCU (N.J.), and Bill O'Brien, CEO of Suffolk FCU (N.Y.) – both NAFCU members – attended a roundtable discussion with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan to discuss housing finance reform. NAFCU has pressed for small institutions to have equal, competitive access to the secondary mortgage market in any future housing finance system, during the ongoing reform debate.

The current head of the OMB, Sylvia Burwell, has been nominated to head the Department of Health and Human Services in the wake of Secretary Kathleen Sebelius' resignation.